upstart
noun
a person who has risen suddenly from a humble position to wealth, power, or a position of consequence.
upstarting
-
present participleof upstart.present participle
A verb form that is used in progressive verb constructions and may also function as a modifier or a gerund.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Presently that clownish person, upstarting, desired that adventure: whereat the Queene much wondering, and the lady much gainesaying, yet he earnestly importuned his desire.
From Prefaces and Prologues to Famous Books with Introductions, Notes and Illustrations by Charles William Eliot
Then excuse me, we'll be parting, doleful fowl," I cried, upstarting; "Get thee back to—the Red River, or the Nile's sand-cumbered shore!
From Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 101, October 31, 1891 by Sir F. C. (Francis Cowley) Burnand
She followed the direction of my eye, stroked down an upstarting frill, and coloured furiously.
From The Lady of the Basement Flat by Elizabeth Earnshaw
Coxcombs need only lines; their opinions are upstarting islands, held together by nothing but emptiness....
From Hesperus or Forty-Five Dog-Post-Days Vol. I. A Biography by Jean Paul
It was as if you saw a flame upstarting before you, waving tremulously here and there, but burning and resistless in its white heat.
From A Strange Disappearance by Anna Katharine Green
